


around the world we go!

by yawwwrp



Category: (여자)아이들 | (G)I-DLE, Dreamcatcher (Korea Band), K-pop, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Crushes, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Game Shows, M/M, Missions, Pining, Reality TV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:54:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29040456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yawwwrp/pseuds/yawwwrp
Summary: Twelve contestants in six teams are in the new season of the race around the world tv show to complete game missions in nine cities around the world.Among them are Minho and Changbin who team up to win the race but accidentally win more than they had hoped for.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Felix, Han Jisung | Han/Hwang Hyunjin, Lee Minho | Lee Know/Seo Changbin, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 13





	1. Osaka

**Author's Note:**

> hi everyone! :)
> 
> this is kind of a massive story and i just wanted to try something new~  
> i've only been to like half the cities they will go to in this race so for some of them i just googled stuff - just pretend its realistic lmao
> 
> i hope you like it and I wish you all a super fresh day/night! :D

“You will be our candidates for this season’s Around The World Race, congratulations!”

The producer gave a little clap and Minho’s eyes wandered around the room to see seven guys and four girls around his own age slowly joining in on the clapping.

“The teams will be drawn at random. I am sure that all of you have watched our previous seasons, but I will give you a recap on how it’s going to go down anyway.” The PD turned off the lights and started the projector to show them a little presentation.

“You will be travelling to nine cities. The cities will not be communicated beforehand, you will receive that information whenever you have completed the missions in one city. All visas and entry permits will be taken care of by us. In each city you will have to complete two missions, afterwards you will move on to the next city. Sometimes the most points will go to the first team completing the mission, so it’s best to do it in a timely manner. All missions need to have photo or video evidence to be completed.”

The producer called out six of them and let them draw their teammates from a bag before sitting back down again.

The first person to be called, a guy with shoulder length hair, searched the room for a moment. “Jisung?”

Minho’s eyes drifted towards the end of the table where a tanned guy with puffy cheeks raised his hand. “That’s me.”

The producer nodded and took some notes. “Hyunjin and Jisung are team one. Chan who did you pick?”

Chan looked like he just came back from a surfing trip, bleached curly hair and all and smiled at the rest of the group. “Felix.”

Judging by the name, Felix was most probably not from Seoul originally, and with a bright but shy smile, he gave a little wave to Chan. The next two teams were all girl teams, with a short girl named Soyeon teaming up with a girl from China called Yuqi and the other team being Gahyeon and Dami who seemed to get on like a house on fire right away.

Minho eyed the remaining three guys and tried to picture himself in a team with any of them but gave up when the short guy with the raspy voice called out his name. It took him a second to react and the other guy’s eyebrows rose up in what seemed to be surprise.

“Great, so Changbin and Minho and that means Seungmin and Jeongin are our last team. Then that’s all our teams decided. You are free to leave now, please make sure to pack for all climates and we will meet at the airport tomorrow morning at seven. Good luck to you all!”

The producer left and for a moment, all twelve of the contestants just kind of stared at each other before Chan clapped his hands together.

“How about some food to get to know each other a little bit before we have to fight to the death?”

Over the following barbeque, Jisung not so gently reminded Chan that they would not actually fight to the death but Chan insisted on making it seem more dramatic than it was.

Minho found it hard to get into a conversation with anyone at first, most of all his future teammate who seemed to be a chatterbox and immediately jumped into discussions with half the group.

“You’re Minho, right?”

Minho had to search his brain for the corresponding name for the girl before him for a second. “Yeah. Dami, right?”

She nodded and popped a piece of meat into her mouth. “Are you nervous about the show?”

Nervous? Not really. Terrified? Maybe.

“A little.”

Dami sighed. “I feel you on that.”

After that, Minho actually started to talk to the other contestants bit by bit. As it turned out, Gahyeon and Dami had immediately become friends upon realizing they shared the same interest in movies and while Jisung and Hyunjin initially fought about who had the better music library, they eventually made up and seemed to get along fine now.

Chan and his teammate Felix on the other hand could have fooled them into thinking they had been friends for years, bonding over their shared background from Australia and Soyeon and Yuqi seemed to be in an engaging conversation with Jeongin and Seungmin about arcades and ice cream. Which only left Changbin.

Changbin was currently staring intently on his phone and Minho found it hard to fuse the intense look on his face with the cheerful personality he had when he was talking with someone. Apparently he had been staring for a second too long when Changbin looked up at him and grinned.

“If you take a picture it might last longer.”

Minho rolled his eyes at him. “Whatever you say.”

The next morning was chilly as the sun was just rising and half the contestants wore matching sleepy faces when they all met up at the airport.

The producer and filming crew provided them with their boarding passes and informed them about the following schedule.

“When we touch down in Osaka, go to your hotel and drop off your bags. You will find a note in your hotel room with the mission.”

The flight wasn’t very long and Minho’s brain was mainly preoccupied with thinking about what the mission could be until Changbin nudged him in the side from the seat next to him. Minho looked over to see Changbin point excitedly at the window and Minho found it kind of endearing how happy he was about the view from the plane.

As soon as they landed, they grabbed their bags from the luggage drop off and made their way to the hotel the staff mentioned. The check in was a little chaotic with twelve anxious and excited contestants and a whole filming crew trying to get their room keys and Minho felt himself letting out a long sigh when they finally closed the door to their hotel room behind them.

“Stressful, huh?” Changbin already flopped down on one of the beds and closed his eyes.

Minho hummed in response and nudged his leg slightly as he passed him by. “Don’t fall asleep, we have to do the mission.”

He picked up the piece of paper on the table in their room and read through it once, furrowing his brow.

Changbin sat up with a groan. “What does it say?”

“Go to where the sky is pink and become a copycat.” 

“What?”

“That’s what it says.”

Minho heard Changbin let out another whine and get up from the bed to snatch the paper from Minho’s hands.

“They couldn’t have given clearer instructions?”

After a quick moment of googling, Minho let out a yell. “I got it!”

Changbin sidled up to him to look at his phone. “Cherry blossoms?”

“I just looked for the best place to see them here because of the pink sky but I don’t know what the copycat is referring to. I guess we will see when we get there.”

Apparently Minho’s hunch was correct, because when they arrived at the spot, the filming crew and two other teams were already there.

For a moment they watched as Soyeon and Yuqi struck a Naruto-esque pose and burst out in laughter when they checked their picture and Chan and Felix reenacted some kind of fight scene.

One of the producers handed Changbin a photo and told them to recreate the pose for the picture in front of the cherry blossom trees to pass the mission and Changbin immediately moved to a better spot for a picture while Minho’s eyes were stuck on the given pose.

Why couldn’t they have had a fight scene or something? No, what they got was a goddamn prom pose.

“Why do I have to stand in front?”, Changbin complained and Minho couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“Because you’re shorter than me.”

Changbin’s protests stopped as soon as Minho pulled him closer to himself, arms around Changbin’s waist and he leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

“Smile.”

After their first mission was completed, they met up with some of the other contestants to explore the city for a little bit, and though the lingering excitement and nervousness about the next mission was still there, they actually had a really nice, enjoyable day.

At the end of the day, Changbin and Minho received another note from the staff with the current ranking after taking a shower at the hotel room and sinking down on their beds.

“We’re in third place”, Changbin muttered and leaned back, the exhaustion of the day taking its toll on him. “Better than last I guess.”

They started the second day with refreshed energy and much clearer instructions than for their first mission. After breakfast, they were brought to a beautiful temple and told to find three pictures as quickly as possible.

Every team immediately started running in all directions, while Minho stayed at the start for a moment. Changbin shot him a look.

“Minho, we gotta go.”

Minho held up a hand and Changbin got kind of frustrated with his relaxed attitude until Minho fixed his eyes on a spot at the far end of the temple that no one had paid attention to. He took off much faster than Changbin had expected and found it hard to catch up with him.

When he reached Minho at the stone wall, Minho held up their prom picture from the day before triumphantly. “There you go.”

“How did you know it was there?!” Changbin tried his best not to pant from the sudden sprint but wasn’t sure if it was working.

Minho just shrugged in response and started running at a slower pace again. Before long, they found the remaining two pictures and rushed back to the starting point to find that they were the second team to arrive.

Hyunjin ran a hand through his hair while Jisung seemed mopey about having to run and greeted them with a half hearted wave.

The staff checked both teams’ pictures and signalled them that they passed their mission and were free to go. While Hyunjin and Jisung took off to go back to the hotel, Minho and Changbin stayed for a little while longer to see how their competition was doing.

In the end, Soyeon and Yuqi came in last place and everyone returned back to the hotel where Minho still refused to explain how he had figured out where the pictures were.

Minho just made a lucky guess but Changbin didn’t need to know that.

They received a note in the evening telling them that they were currently in second place and that they should be at the airport in the morning to get to their next location - Los Angeles.


	2. Los Angeles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys!
> 
> it has been brought to my attention that there's apparently an actual tv show like this called amazing race????????  
> WHY HAS NO ONE EVER TOLD ME ABOUT THIS SHOW?!!?!?! i'm now binge watching pls excuse me
> 
> hope you like this one and i wish you all a nice friday and a good start to the weekend!! :D

As soon as they entered their hotel room, Changbin immediately rushed to the table in the room and picked up the paper with their mission on it. Minho closed the door behind them and stowed away their bags, joining Changbin a moment later, looking over his shoulder.

“Clear instructions this time, thank god.”

Changbin jumped at Minho’s voice so close to his ear and turned around to face him. “So we have to dress up as movie characters and take a picture with the Hollywood sign. Are you good at English?”

Minho pulled a face at him. “I was hoping you would be.”

Eventually they end up at a costume store and are relieved to find that both Chan and Felix as well as Dami and Gahyeon went to the same store. According to Gahyeon, Jeongin, Seungmin, Soyeon and Yuqi were already trying on costumes in the changing rooms and Chan and Felix were being utilized as translators for all of them.

Changbin and Minho sent a silent prayer of thanks to whoever was listening and eventually entered the changing rooms with two bagged costumes in their hands. The costumes were not picked by them but by the crew and Minho was kind of dreading opening up the bag. 

Rightfully so, because when Changbin and Minho exited the changing rooms, the other contestants that were waiting to get changed broke out in laughter.

“Let’s hope there’s no iceberg”, Terminator Felix giggled and wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.

“You look pretty as Rose though, Changbin!” Yuqi gave him a thumbs up as she fixed her minion outfit that was slightly too big for her.

Changbin pouted at the reaction he got from the others and Minho couldn’t help but look him up and down for a moment. It was true though, he looked cute.

“Why couldn’t I have been Jack? Minho would look much better as Rose than me.”

Among their protests, everyone eventually made their way outside to take pictures with the Hollywood sign in the background, the store being in a very advantageous spot so they didn’t have to walk too far.

Once their pictures were all taken, they changed back into their own clothes and decided to go out for food together, sitting down at a pizza place just a few streets away.

“Why would you put vegetables on a pizza? Is that not, like, illegal?”

A few of the others joined in on Soyeon’s hatred for vegetables while Changbin’s eyes lingered on Minho who asked Felix to order this and that for him. He wasn’t too sure what to think about Minho at first, except for thinking that he’s extremely handsome, but seeing how easily he went into action when it came to the missions, he finally felt himself relax a little bit.

A little bit, because being teamed up with the, at least in his eyes, prettiest contestant made him feel a different kind of nervous, especially since they were together 24/7.

They were unfortunately not able to maintain their second place and fell down to third, but that was still better than being last.

Changbin woke up with a stiff neck the next day and Minho shot him a look at the groaning he let out when he got up.

“You okay? Are you hurt?”

“Just slept funny I think.”

Minho’s concerned expression softened as he stretched himself. “Do you want a massage?”

Following this question, Changbin frantically escaped to take a shower and hoped that Minho couldn’t see how red his face got.

A little while later, all contestants found themselves standing at the entry to Disneyland, with most of them buzzing with excitement.

“Your mission today is to ride three rollercoasters - pictures will be taken during the ride and you will have to come to the castle to present them to us once you are done”, Chan read out loud from the mission card the staff handed him. Within a minute, all teams rushed off amidst loud yelling and laughing and Minho dragged Changbin behind him by the wrist.

“Let’s get on the first three we see”, he suggested and stopped a short distance later in front of the first roller coaster. Unfortunately, this one was not one of the fastest or most brutal ones, but it was extremely high and Minho gulped as he looked up at it.

“Maybe not this one.”

Changbin let out a laugh. “Are you scared of heights?”

“No. Just a little.” Minho really hoped his ears weren’t red with embarrassment, though he could feel them heating up. “Do we have to go on this one?”

“We have to finish first.” Changbin had apparently made up his mind and dragged Minho through the line that was fortunately for them pretty short. They only had to wait a few minutes to take their seats, but Minho felt his knees get weaker by the second.

Changbin seemed to notice it and grabbed his hand, interlacing their fingers and squeezing it lightly. “Don’t worry, it’s safe and it’ll be over in a couple minutes.”

All Minho could manage was a nod before the ride started moving and they were taken slowly way up into the sky. He subconsciously tightened his grip on Changbin’s hand who turned to look over at him.

“Don’t look down. Look at me.”

Minho tore his eyes away from the shrinking people below them to look at Changbin, eyes crinkled, a bright smile on his face and the light breeze ruffling his hair. He looked good.

The ride was over faster than Minho thought it would be and he was pretty sure that he permanently damaged his vocal chords screaming, but he made it and that was a small victory.

As they exited the ride, he realized how shaky his legs were and gripped tighter onto Changbin who steadied him helpfully, no teasing, no jokes.

The sight of their picture that was taken during the ride had them both in stitches.

“What kind of face are you making?!”

“Says you!”

Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix and Chan came up behind them and let out some laughs as well before their mood turned somber.

“Is it scary?” Jisung’s eyes were about twice as big as they usually were and he had linked his arm with Hyunjin’s though maybe Hyunjin had to actually physically drag him to the roller coaster with how scared Jisung seemed.

“It’s fine, you’ll be okay”, Minho replied, feeling relieved to be over it and he felt a reassuring squeeze of his hand, making him realize that Changbin and him were still holding hands. He quickly let go and cleared his throat, though Chan and Felix shot them some sly looks.

“It’s over faster than you’d think, just go for it.”

They actually completed their mission fairly quickly and by the third roller coaster, Minho only felt a little nervous about it. Changbin still held his hand and Minho didn’t object, though he put any thoughts about it to the back of his mind for now.

They got the all clear from the production team at the castle just after Soyeon and Yuqi and exchanged a quick high five before heading off to the food court.

“Do you think it’s okay to eat now? We’re not going on any more roller coasters, right?”

Changbin giggled at him. “Yeah, I think we’re done with them for now. But we can go on some of the more chill rides after, you know. Make the most of Disneyland.”

They sat down for a little bit to get a bite to eat and tried out some of the more relaxing rides around the park before they found themselves at one of the shooting stands.

Changbin failed horribly at winning anything and pouted while Minho tried his luck. The first shot was a miss but when he got lucky on the second one, Changbin jumped into cheerleader mode and hyped Minho up, eventually cheering for him when he won.

He received a little plushie for his efforts and handed it over to Changbin who stared at him with wide eyes.

“For me?”

Minho nodded in response. “For helping me get through the roller coasters.” And because you’re cute, but he didn’t say that.

Changbin let out a happy noise and hugged the little plushie, smiling at Minho. “I’ll treasure it, thank you!”

Back at the hotel, Minho took over the bathroom to take a shower while Changbin flopped down on his bed, looking at the plushie he got earlier.

This was a dangerous game, he realized earlier. He was most definitely developing some kind of crush on Minho and that was very much not good. But for now, he would just ignore it and bathe in his happy feelings. He heard Minho sing under his breath in the bathroom and couldn’t help but smile.

The note about the current ranking arrived while Minho was still taking a shower and Changbin accepted it happily.

Second Place, they were back in business.

**Author's Note:**

> please lemme know what you guys think about this! :)
> 
> take care and have a good one!


End file.
